Aeroplane



lll

' s; ATES 'eterni-a. nan-wint, or Kansas c1rmnrssoiinr.

v annemarie. i y

incroci.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented une 244i, 1919. i

application aies January 16,1919. serial' no. crime.

To all whom it' 'may concern:

lie it known that l, GLENN A. BREWER, a

citizen ofthe United States, residing at Kan sas Qity, in the county ofilaclisonr and. State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefullim rovements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specication.

rlhis invention relates to aeroplanes' and has for its object to producea machine of this character vhaving .a motor adapted for exertinglifting force to coperate with the usual elevating and sustainingequipment in effecting upward travel'and to retard Vollli plane travelto permit a -landingtg be safely accomplished at lesstravel speed..than` is usually required.v A further object is to provide' anaeroplane equipped With l'Oltf means susceptible of being pitchedlaterally to a slight anglefor the purposeof offering resistance tolateral drift in traveling 'transversely of air currents, and thuspermit a machine to be 'driven in*l an undeviating course withoutpointing and driving itat an angle oblique tothe actual course of travelas is nowv necessary-with the conventional aeroplane or otheraeri-alfvessel. i With these general dblects in view the 1nventionconsists in certain novel and useful Uaa vfeatures of construction andcombinations of parte as hereinafter described and claimed;

and in order that it vinay beY fully understood reference is to be hadtothe accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1,isa .fragmentary side elevation of an `aeroplane embodying myinvention, part of the covering/of the fuselage being y broken away andcertain of the other parts till.

being shown in sectionto more clearly disclose the novel features of theinvention.

Fig. 2, is atop plan view of the construction asilliistr'a in Fig. l. .A

. lliig.` 3, v'is a crosssection on the line Fig. l, is an 4enlargedsection taken onthe Vline lV-lV of Figb.

' liiig. 5, is a section on the same lscale as Fig. ll, Iand takensiilostaiitially on the line V-V of llig. d.

.The body is formed at a vsuitable point, preferably about centrallyvbetween the planes of the front and rear edges of lane 2 with avertical opening-4, and rigidli7 secured in said openin -is a skeletonframe, the same' lbeing preferir ly constructed as follows.: 5 is a ringof single or'doiible type as preferred, varranged vertically inthe planeof the longitudinal axis of the body, and provided with lugs 6 bolted orotherwise secured to the body. Said rinr may be fixed in position byother means if desired. 7 vis a ring fitting snugly within andtransversely of ring 5, and rigidly securedto the saine .and to thefuselage as shown or in any other suitable manner, the ring 7 beingshown as provided with angle brackets 8 bolted to the fuselage atoppositesides of opening 4. The fixed ring 7 ofthe frame is preferablyof channel form, and fitting rotatably in the channel of said ring is aring9.y

A rotating motor 10 of the Gnome or any equivalent type'is arranged withsaid skeleton frame, and the pistons of the cylinders of the motor areconnected as customary in the type of engines mentioned to the crankofthe vertical shaft 11, which shaft is rig` i y idly secured at ends tothe inner or rotatable ring 9 and hence is capable through turningadjustment of said ring,` of being tilted to the right or the left atthe will of 'the operatori for a purpose hereinafter setforth. Theetailconsti'uction of the engine,

`such as pistons, the crank of said shaft, the

connections between the pistons and crank, 7and the other conventionalfeatures of the engine are omitted as of common and wellkno-wnconstruction, lthe motor differing however in one particular, namely inhaving 'the lower facesl of its cylinders `inclined transverselywith'respect to the length of said cylinders, as at'12, it being .notedthat the inclined planes 12 are similar-so' that when the engine isturned in the `direction indicated byv the arrow, Fig. 2, all of saidV.f planes will cooperate in exciting force tendg ingtoliftthe machine. l

The crank case or central portion of the engine or motor is provided atits upper side with a bevel gear 13, meshing with a smaller journaled inany suitable manner and ex# tending radially w-ith respect to the axesof the circular frame, so that when the motor is tilted toward one sideor the other through -tlie rotative adjustment of the ring 9, the

bevel gear 14 secured on one endof the shaft y 15 for the propeller 3;said shaft being.

jbevellge'ar 13 Will turn concentrically with respect to the axes of thepropeller shaft, so

that the tilting of the .motor in nowise affects the position oroperation of the gear 14 shaft 15 and propeller 3.

o effect -the tilting of the motor either to the right or the left anysuitable mechanism may be employed, that illustrated being constructedas follows: 16 is a Worm rack secured Within the adjustable rin 9, andengaged by a Worm- Wheel 17 rigidly secured-to a bevel gear 18 journaledon the stub shaft v19 carried by and forming a part of a bar 20 securedto a pair of angle brackets 21 fastened rigidly to the ring 5,

A 'one of said brackets also forming a journal "-bearing for alongitudinal shaft 22 equipped at its front end with abevel gear 23meshing with bevel gear 18. The rearend of the shaft 22 is equipped witha hand wheel\24 or` the like so that the person in control of themachine may readily turn shaft 22 and thus through the intermeshinggears 23 and 18v and the Worm wheel 17 and Worm-"16, turn ring 9 towardone side orthe other for the purpose of tilting the shaft 11 in ders,will exert a 'lifting Vforce which as-l the proper direction andthemotor in the desired direction. l. In operation the motor will normallyoperate in a horizontal plane and through the beveled or inclinedlowerfaces of the cylin- `sists insustaining; the plane,=this beinparticularly desirable'whenlandings are eing made, as it will enablealandin to be made at less travel speed. than yw'ou dy otherwise' berequired. It is alsoobvious that when rotatingl the czylinders will havea gyroscopic eiect, and tend to maintain the machine in anvuprightposition. When traveling-across aircurrents, the `motor can be tiltedinthe proper direction to exertorce tending to resist drifting, 'and thuspermit the maehineito be started ina direct linev Iinstead ofyanangle'to the course of travel desired, tasis now necessary with allaerial vessels.

It will. be apparent of .course .thatthe motor will not necessarily haveto be lo- 'cated centrally ofthe machine, andit is clearly obvious thatthere may betwo 0r` more ofsuch motors. It will also Vbe understood thatinsteadI of providing the cylinders of themotor with inclined lowerfaces, a horizontal propeller' may be 4secured to Y the rntor lshaft,jwl1ich'in principle of course embodyi is identicalwith the vconstructionand modev ofoperation of the motor described.

From the above descri tion 'it will be apparentv that I have pr uc'edfanaeroplane `the features of'advantage set i forth as esirable, and it isobviousl y lsusone of which isdisposed transversely of the machine,l aring arranged for rotation within the transversely disposed ring, avertical shaft secured at its upper and lower ends insaid rotatable rina series of cylinders arran ed and adapte to rotate around said sha-ft1n a plane at. right an les to the axis of said sha-ft, the bottoms osaid cylinders being similarly inclined transversely of their axes, apropeller geared to and adapted to 'be driven by the cylinders when thesame are rotated, and means for imparting turning movement in onedirection or the other to said rotatablering to e'ect tilting ofthemotor and the shaft toward one side or the other. I

2. An aero lane provided with a vertical opening, a s eleton fra'mesecured in said opening, a circular ring arranged transversely of theaeroplane and adapted to be 4for imparting turning movement in onedirection or the otherto, Said adjustable rin to effect tiltin of themotor and the sha toward one si e or the other.

3. An aeroplane provided with a vertical opening, a skeleton framesecured in said opening, a circular ring arranged transversely of theaero lane and adapted to be turned `within sai skeleton frame, a

vertical shaft secured at its :upper and lower ends ,in said ladjustablering, 'a series of cylinders arranged and adapted to rotate around saidshaft in a plane at right angles to the axis of said shaft, the bottomsof said cylinders being similarly inclined transversely of their axes, apropeller gearedA to and adapted to ybe driven by the cylinders when thesame arelrotated, a rack formed on the adjustable ring, and a handoperated 'shaft suitably journaled and geared to said rack for effectingturning adjustment toward one side or the other ofsaid ring to effectthe tilting of said motor.

- In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

GLENN A. BREWER.

